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Foot-and-mouth disease is a huge threat

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Published: May 31, 2023

FMD

Livestock producers across North America tremble when the name of a certain animal disease is mentioned. They know there has not been a case of the disease in the U.S. since 1929 and in Canada since 1952. But they know the disease is endemic in other countries and could enter the U.S. They also are well aware of the colossal financial consequences of that occurring.

I am referring of course to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). It is the one topic that keeps livestock industry leaders awake at night. This is why many industry groups over the years have urged preventive action on various fronts and warned of the economic effect of an FMD case.

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It was thus highly appropriate that this magazine’s Lisa Guenther devoted both her February and March columns to FMD. The first looked back at the history of FMD in Canada and the second asked how government and industry are now working to prevent an outbreak. Her observations were especially timely given that funding for an FMD vaccine bank and an increase to the interest-free limit of loans under the Advance Payments Program were two of the highlights of the latest federal budget in Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will receive $57.5 million over five years to set up a FMD vaccine bank and develop response plans if the disease makes its way to Canada. The federal government will ask the provinces and territories to share the cost. The Canadian cattle sector has been asking for a vaccine bank and Canadian Cattle Association president Nathan Phinney says that with the threat of FMD, the bank helps provide insurance to protect Canada’s export markets.

In the U.S., the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) in 2017 joined with more than 100 other agricultural groups and industry leaders in calling for Congress to establish and fully fund a robust FMD vaccine bank as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. An outbreak of FMD will have a devastating effect on all of agriculture, not just livestock producers, and will have long-lasting ramifications for the viability of U.S. agriculture, the maintenance of food security in the nation and overall national security, said a letter sent to members of Congress.

An outbreak of FMD would immediately close all export markets, said the letter. The cumulative effect of an outbreak on the beef and pork sectors over 10 years would be more than US$128 billion. The annual jobs impact of such a reduction in industry revenue is more than 58,000 in direct employment and nearly 154,000 in total employment, it said. These numbers are now six years old and the dollar losses might now be double the 2017 estimates. USDA in a 2020 report said an FMD outbreak in the U.S. today could cost from US$2 billion to greater than US$200 billion, depending upon its mode of introduction and extent.

The 2018 Farm Bill established a three-pronged program to support animal disease prevention and management. In July 2020, USDA announced a US$27.1 million initial purchase of FMD vaccine for the national bank. This was the first step toward the goal of acquiring 10-25 million doses of each of the 10-12 highest-risk strains of FMD for the bank.

Just last month, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced it was awarding NCBA with US$445,396 in funding to advance the Secure Beef Supply Plan in the event of an FMD outbreak in the U.S. In response, NCBA said it thanked USDA for awarding this critical funding to help continue defending the U.S. cattle herd from the threat of foot-and-mouth disease.

About the author

Steve Kay

Contributor

A North American view of the meat industry. Steve Kay is publisher and editor of Cattle Buyers Weekly.

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